Foundation templet for buildings



Aug. 8, 1950 R. w. RUMBLE FOUNDATION TEMPLET FOR BUILDINGS Filed Feb.14, 1945 120 Wz'iZiamflzimZiie 9.; 44111:; 1/ fw u 1 Patented Aug. 8; 1950 OFFICE FoU p rIpN rE PLE'r :EQRBUILDINGS I Roy-William Rumble,Pretoria,-Transvaal,

This invention relates to teniplets "adapted to. be laid out on the 1ground or, forinstance, on a i'u 'ndatioil slab, to define? the plan of.a" building that about to be-erected.

teinpletdefinesthe postion of, and mayform part or; shuttering formoulding concrete walls. In other cases it defines and may form part of;the wall itself; particularly when the latter is a hollow wall of a'portable building composed ofv panels connected and supported edgewi'se;I tmpl'et accordingv to thexinvention, Consists or 'n assemblyofmanufacturedunits adaptedto' be smbled in various combinationsto-accord withftheshape and size of the walls of. the building."1heassemblycomprises continuity structi'ii' -e'ssential units ot-which arecornerrunits consisting'of two-arms rigidly'extending from one anotherat right anglesg or suchiother angles-as the building may require. f-There:are two types of corner unit's, one'type inwhich the .visiblesurfacesof the'walls-to be erected form ahollow or" exterior-angle ofless than 180 which in;the.

following specification and claims I, designate as "re-entrant fand theother type in which the vislble' surfaces form: a. protrudingior-exterior,

angle of more than 180 and which I, designate as f's'alient inaccordance with the use with;

polygons. 'I n the case of corn'er;.units for reentrant angles, agussetor. the, likeis provided.

for' making the angle rigid. The templet further includes structurethat, in;the assemblyldefines thefstraightwalls between pairs :ofcorners and joins thecorner units in aicircuit which is usuallyai'fclose'd circuit. Said continuity. structure thus,

includes the arms of'the corner units and also includes separatestraight bars that come between two such arms in line. There arealso-coupling units for joining the parts composin thecon-vtiifuityflstructure and'ranging' said parts in.

straightlines. The coupling and corner units and the -straight bars areso formed that the coupling unitsare capable of being'engaged withbothcor' In some T cases zthei said: 'templet sets a Union of SouthAfrica Application February 14, 1945, serial No. 577,898 In-' the Unionof South Africa MarchB, 1944 apart from one another.

According to a further feature formed ofpanels having'edge formationscon-v structed toengage edgewise with similar panels and other parts ofwalls; and the templet' is formed with an upward edge or surfacethat'interengages or'inte'rlocks with the lower edge for-- mations ofpanels or wall units laid on it. Sa'id inter-engaging formationsare'usually of the generaltongue-and-groove type. V 1 a The meanswhereby the abovementioned ties engage with the respective tern-plotsets is prefer.-

ably such that upon layingthe ties with their ends properly positionedon the templet, .the

superimposition of the wall panels on the templet automatically securesthe ties to the templet with the'innerand outer sets of the latterproperly.

spaced apart and tied together bythe ties. With this object the ends ofthe ties are shaped in cross section to engage with the aforesaidintereng'aging or interlocking edge or surfaceforma-' tionsp Theinvention is illustrated in the accompanye ing drawings in which:

Figure I is a plan view of a templet for a tworoorned building.

Figure II is a perspective view illustratingthe used the templet. FigureIII is an enlarged cross section through a bar Gand coupling 1. l I The'temple't shown in both-Figures I and andfindicated' generally by 2,defines the plan shape of'two parallel sets of walls, which maybe forinstance the two elements of the hollow wall of a portable building, orthe inner and outer shuttering walls temporarily set up to mould. a

concrete wall between them. There are accords;

ingly at least two templet sets viz; an outer set indicated by letter Aand an inner set indicated by letter B.' Each room of the'buildinghas,its own inner templet set; the second inner templet set in theillustrated example being indicated by B 'Each templet set forms aclosed circuit. 3

Each templet set comprises corner units indicated by the numeral 3 andconsistin of two arms rigidlyfixed to one another at right; angles-earin some other angular relationshipin; the unusualcase of a building thatis not rectan-s gular; The corner units of the inner-set B or B areprincipally for defining re-en'trant corners between the walls. Such're-entrant cornerunitg .areindicatedbyj and their arms 4 ar made spacethe latter properly a of the invention; the templet-is incorporated inand forms the footing'of walls erected on it. Said walls may be" tightand telescopically on the adjacent ends of the arms 4 and of the bars 6and are long enough to hold said parts firmly in line across the jointsbetween them.

The whole of the continuity structure, which includes the arms 4 of thecorner units. and the separate bars 6, is formed of sheet metal pressedto a common cross sectional shape which imparts longitudinal stiffnessand provides a base that stands stably on a hat surface. The sectionshown enlarged in Figure III includes that of a upwardly directed tongue8 of a tongue-androove connection, the ends 9, 9 of which provide thestable base. The coupling units 1 are also made of sheet metal pressedto a cross sectional form that enables them to connect the arms 4 andbars 6 telescopically; and if the bar and arm section is of aformdescribed later-that is suitable, the units are made of the samesection as the bars and arms. In using the term the same sectipn it isassumed that the sheet metal is sufficiently thin relatively to thedimensions of the section for there to be no significant differencebetween the internal and the, external profiles of the section.

When the templet comprises two or more templet sets, it also includesties it, the function of which is to connect the similar elements of thesets and to hold said similar elements parallel with one another andproperly spaced apart ac-.

cording to the overall thicknes of the buildin walls to be formed. Theties here shown are similar to those disclosed in Union of South Africapatent specification No. 1,121 of 1943. They con-v sist oi fiat stripsof sheet metal havin end portions ll bent to form a tongue section thatis transverse to the length of the tie, and that fits the tongue 8. Thelength of the ties corresponds to the intended overall thickness of thewall to be formed; and may vary accordingly as the. wall is an outerwall or a partition wall.

In order to make use of the templet in th preferred manner, a levelfoundation surface 12 (Figures I and II) is. prepared, by for instancebuilding a concrete foundation l3 for th building. It is convenient toassemble one of the templet sets first; say set B. To do this a cornerunit 3% is laid down and a bar 6 is attached to each of its arms 4 bythe couplings 1. Other bars. are similarly jointed on as may benecessary; the couplings keeping the bars and armsv alined at theirjoints. A corner element is added at the end of each line thus formed;the telescopic char-. actor of the joints enabling said lines to beadjusted to length with precision. The process is continued until thecircuit of the set B is completed. The set B is similarly completed;and, the parallel elements -m and n of the two sets, B, B are connectedby several ties l0. These ties, are laid transversely to the continuitystructure and with their end portions. ll engaged either under or overthe barsv 6 and arms. 4 and so that their tongue shapes nest intothe-tongue shapes of said bars and arms.

The inner sets B and B having been thus assembled, more ties ID areengaged with said sets at intervals and directed outwardly. The outerset A is now assembled in the same way as the inner sets and in additionso as to engage with the outer ends of the last mentioned ties. Sincethe inner ends of the ties are already engaged with the inner sets, themere engagement of the outer set units with the outer ends of the tiescauses said outer set to be positioned parallel with and properly spacedfrom the inner sets, without further measurement.

The corner units and especially the gusseted corner units .s areimportant in determining the squareness of the layout; and if some lackof squareness has appeared during the assembly, haking the assembledtemplet, by enabling elastically bent parts to straighten out, willusually ensure complete squareness all through the layout.

The templet thus assembled may be employed in various ways to impart.its form to the walls of the intended building. The lower course ofblocks of a concrete block wall, for instance, may be cor-J rectly laidout by setting said blocks in the space,

engage edgewise. Said panels are indicated in igure II by 1 4.. Theirloweredges are, shaped as a tongue-.andegroove formation complementai tothat of the arms 4 and bars 6; and in the ex-. ample shown as a somewhatV-shaped groove. The upper edges of the. paneis are also of tongue andgroove formation; and said upper edges of the two wall elements aretied. and spaced by ties indicated by [5. The drawing also shows waling'members [6 interposed between the panel courses as described in patent.application No. 1,120 of 1 943; andit is pointed out that the templetarms, 4 and bars 6 perform a functionsimilarto that of. said waling'members. in. keeping the, lower edges of horizontally adjacent panels inalinement. The panels l4, in turn, duplicate the aliningz function ofthe coupling members 1., where the. former cross the joints of, theybars; 5 and-arms. 4.-

The two parallel. walls and Y: thus formed, by the panels may, asmentioned above, be. the two elements of a. hollow wall. in which thetemplet and; the ties. remain as. perm nen fea ures.- Equali y Well theymay be the inner and outfit. walls. of-shutterins, between which. aconcrete wallj s oulded as su g ted at. ln'tbatc se, the panels. 14 andthe. parts; of the templet, are dis? assembled, after the. wall I1 is,formed" and can be reassembled an indefinite number of times; The tiesit}, andv 15, remain embedded in the concrete.

In order fi makethe section of thearms 4, the bars 6 and the coupling 1one that is telescopic in the sense of the outer one of a coupled pairof such members embracing the inner one, at least as long as thesections are not. purposely rotated relatively to one another, there isvadded. to the tongue section already described, the fur,- thersectionelement consisting-of the straight limb. l8 extending-upward-irom oneside of the general: V section and hooked over at I59 at its upper end;towards such V section; but this-specific formlis'a not-claimed in thisapplication. Thelimb t8... Larisa provided at the outer edges of thearms 4; and the bars 6 are so arranged when assembled that said limb isalso at their outer sides, as appears from the drawings. This allows themoulding faces of the panels M, when the latter are shuttering panels,to extend practically down to the foundation face l2; being separatedtherefrom only by the thin edges 21 of the templet sections.

I claim:

1. A foundation templet suitable for laying out on a foundation surfaceto define the plan of a building to be erected, comprising an assemblyof manufactured units adapted to be assembled in various combinations inaccordance with the thickness and length of the walls of the buildingand their positional relationship with one another, said assemblycomprisin continuity structure including corner units consisting of twoarms lrigid with one another in theangular relationship of the cornersof the building, straight bars between the arms of two corner units,said bars and arms being formed of sheet material bent to cross.sectional form affording longitudinal stiffness,

, the cross section of the arms being the same as that of the bars andbeing such as to rest stably on a flat surface, the templet alsocomprising coupling units that connect the alined ends of said bars withone another and with the alined ends of said arms, the said couplingunits so formed as to be capable of being engaged with both corner orstraight units against relative lateral movement whilst being relativelymovable longitudinally and remaining thus engaged, to vary thedimensions of the assembly.

2. The templet claimed in claim 1, the sheet material of which issufficiently thin not signifi cantly to affect the cross sectionalshape.

3. The templet claimed in claim 1, in which the coupling units are ofthe same cross section as the arms and bars; and in which said crosssection is such that an outer member encloses an inner member of thesame section.

4. The templet claimed in claim 1 providing an upward edge adapted forthe connection thereto of the edges of wall panels constructed foredgewise connection with other parts of a wall structure thereby tosupport as a footing,.without lateral scaffolding, said wall of panels.

5. The templet claimed in claim 1 providing an upward edge of generaltongue-and-groove crosssection adapted to engage with the complementallyformed edges of 'wall panels, and to support the wall of panels as afooting.

6. The templet claimed in claim 1 in which said units are formed of barsof sheet material of general V cross-sectional shape with the point ofthe V directed upwardly and the ends of the V arms resting on theground.

7. A foundation templet suitable for laying out on a. foundation surfaceto define the plan of a building to be erected, comprising severaltemplet sets including inner and outer sets, and a number of tiesconnecting said sets and spacing them apart according to the thicknessof the intended walls; each of said sets comprising an assembly ofmanufactured units adapted to be assembled in various combinations inaccordance with the thickness and length of the walls of the buildingand their positional relationship with one another, said assemblycomprising continuity structure including corner units consisting of twoarms rigid with one another in the angular relationship of the cornersof the building, and straight units joining a series of corner units anddefining straight walls between said corners, and coupling units thatconnect the alined ends of said arms and straight units; the coupling,corner and straight units being so formed that the coupling units engagewith both the straight and corner units against relative lateralmovement whilst being relatively movable longitudinally, and remainingthus engaged, to vary the dimensions of the assembly; the saidcontinuity structure being shaped to act as a footing for a panel wall.

8. The templet claimed in claim '7, in which the ends of the ties areformed to engage with the cross sectional forms of the respectivetemplet sets and thereby determine the spacing apart of the sets.

9. A foundation templet as claimed in claim '7, in which the outer andinner templet sets form the footings of removable shuttering walls formoulding a permanent wall between them.

10. The templet claimed in claim 7 providing an upward edge adapted forthe connection thereto of the edges of wall panels constructed foredgewise connection with other parts of a wall structure, thereby tosupport as a footing, without lateral scaffolding, said wall of panels.

11. The templet claimed in claim 7, providing an upward edge adapted forthe connection thereto of the edges of wall panels constructed foredgewise connection with other parts of a wall structure, thereby tosupport as a footing, without lateral scaffolding, said wall of panels;the said upward edge being of general tongue-andgroove cross sectionalform.

12. The templet claimed in claim '7 in which the said units are formedof bars of sheet material of general V cross-sectional shape with thepoint of the V directed upwardly and the ends of the V resting on theground.

13. The foundation templet claimed in claim '7 in which the said unitsare formed of bars of sheet material of general V cross-sectional shapewith the point of the V directed upwardly and the-ends of the V restingon the ground, and in which the ties are complementally formed towardstheir ends to engage with said units.

ROY WILLIAM RUMBLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 995,630 Naugle June 20, 19111,400,751 Kuert Dec. 20, 1921 1,465,421 Clouser et a1 Aug. 21, 19232,050,257 Bemis Aug. 11, 1936 2,099,077 Pessagno et a1. Nov. 16, 1937

